(LUSAKATIMES) All Ministers to be held accountable, President Banda

All Ministers to be held accountable, President Banda
Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 13:09

Government has developed a framework for monitoring the implementation of all policies, programmes and projects that are being implemented in the various sectors of the economy.

These include programmes in the 2009 national budget, the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDP), and the Triangle of Hope .

President Rupiah Banda says the framework has since been presented to the Economic Restructuring and Development Committee (ERDC) of the Cabinet, which accepted its adoption.

Mr. Banda said progress on the implementation of the policies, programmes, projects and reforms will be reported on a monthly basis to the ERDC which he chairs.

“For Instance progress will be reported on the implementation of each hospital, road or school in the budget,” he added.

Under the framework, each Minister will be held accountable for all the policies, programmes and projects being implemented under their portfolio.

Mr. Banda said , as such the Ministers will therefore be expected to fully understand the issues under their portfolio as they will be presenting progress reports in person

The President announced the development at State House today when he received the Indaba report.

He has since assured the nation and the committee that was established to come up with the indaba report that government would closely monitor implementation of the indaba resolutions.

He further pledged to ensure that the report is discussed by cabinet as soon as possible so that the implementation of the recommendations is not delayed any further.

“Zambia should avoid being a NATO country that is ‘No action Talk Only’ ,” he said.

He has since commended the chairperson of the Indaba Professor Muyunda Mwanalushi in the manner he managed the deliberations and other stakeholders for their tireless efforts in ensuring that the report was finalised .

“Zambia should avoid being a NATO country that is ‘No action Talk Only’ ,” he said.
And Speaking Earlier, Prof. Mwanalushi said the nation is expecting results arising from the national indaba , failure to which will relegate the indada to a mere public relations attempt.

He said the indaba has come up with recommendations that will put the country on a stronger footing to weather the storm of the current economic downturn and ensure that it remains on course to attain the vision 2030.

“Indeed the recommendations of the indaba have endeavored to go beyond the immediate response to the crisis by proposing a general transformation of our economic systems , structures and procedures,” he said.

He implored government not to delay any further the economic diversification, which should be the cornerstone of the national response to the global economic meltdown and to the country’s economic strategy for moving forward.

Prof. Mwanalushi said the Indaba stressed the urgent need for the country to make a determined efforts to broaden the national resource base through diversification away from the current copper mining.

In addition to economic diversification, Prof. Mwanalushi said the report has recommended for the need to address the challenges that continue to constrain further positive change in Zambia.

These include the change of mindset not only at individual level but also within government systems and procedures through the elimination of bureaucracy and red tape which hamper effective service delivery.

They also consist of the need to enhance government capacity and political will to implement both its stated programmes and what it receives through the consultative processes and the need to formalize dialogue mechanism between the government and major stakeholders.

Other areas take account of the need for sustained investment in human resource development, focusing more on imparting the requisite skills that secure livelihoods graduates from Zambia’s educational system.

‘ The government is urged to develop a transparent and accountable system of determining who should be the beneficiaries of special support, through incentives and fiscal stimulus measures , for the effected economic sectors,’ he added.

The national Indaba was held last month under the theme ‘Global Economic Crisis: A wake up call for Zambia’s Economic Transformation”, and draw about 520 participants from all walks of life.

The Indaba deliberations were mainly focused on the Agriculture, Tourism, Energy, Mining, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Entrepreneurship and Finance.

ZANIS